Exploration Pack 2: Western Journalists and the CCP
To begin, the most astonishing thing to me about delving into this week’s material was the acceptance of journalists, especially western journalists by the CCP. Of course relationships and narratives change over the course of 80-90 years, but the comparison between the relationship of Western media and China today and back then is so starkly different it’s almost confusing. The seeking out of western media by the Chinese, let alone the CCP seems like such a foreign idea to me I had to address these thoughts in the blog post. Additionally, the positive outlook that the journalists gave the CCP was also pretty surprising to me, I expected there to me maybe be a twang of cynicism or disdain but I couldn’t detect any. While the hospitality does seem off with the hindsight of today it most definitely made sense at the time as the CCP was looking for a way to get an objective look of themselves out onto the world scene, not a look muddle but Nationalist views.
Looking past the shocking hospitality of the CCP one thing that was very apparent in the materials from the second exploration pack would be the pedestal that many men of CCP were placed on. Zhou himself was placed on a great pedestal, being described as “like many Red leaders, he was as much a legend as a man.” by Edgar Snow. After reading about Zhou’s life he seemingly deserved this distinction of a legend after all he had gone through and the honorable positions he has held not only with the CCP but also with the Nationalist government. But even the standard soldiers were given great standing, while it does seem like the communist way that everyone is seen as a direct equal but it was still surprising to see. The description of the CCP men taking the Luding Bridge was fascinating to see, even though it should be looked at through a skeptical lens as their feats may be embellished. But the men’s feats and their effort were equated to that of legendary status they, were elevated to the highest standing, this is echoed even by the title of Mao’s interview “Soviet Strong Men”. Overall the CCP men were highlighted in a legendary manner, which is in steep contrast to how the Nationalists were shown.
The Nationalists seemed to be the direct antithesis of the CCP in that their tactics and their men were shown in a poor light. I feel as if the Nationalists were shown to be conniving, and dishonorable compared to the CCP, especially Chiang with all the criticism he seemed to receive. This contrast seemed to emphasize the point that while the Nationalists were technically in control of China they realistically controlled very little, their toppling is easily seen with this week’s materials.
Bibliography:
Snow, Edgar. Red Star Over China. 1st rev. and enl. ed. New York: Grove Press, 1968, First published 1938 by Random House.
Smedley, Agnes, J. F Horrabin, and Victor Gollancz Ltd. China Fights Back: An American Woman with the Eighth Route Army. Left Book Club Edition. London: V. Gollancz, 1938.
“The Tale of the Luding Bridge.” In The Search for Modern China: A Documentary Collection, Third ed. Edited by Janet Chen et. al., W. W. Norton & Company, 2014.
